ABSTRACT

If one is concerned with physical rhythm, one is concerned, as Vertov proclaims, with “meaningful rhythmic visual order,” not as a means to something else but as a revelation in and of itself. “Physical rhythm” is the rhythm created by the editor when she prioritizes the flow of the visible and audible physical movement in the film over other types of movement. Cutting choices might be around whether to link or collide arcs of movement, and how to modulate the rise and fall of energy, the rate and concentration of movement, the pulses and cycles of tension and release in the flow of image and sounds. When shaping physical rhythms, editors intuitively use a range of techniques and approaches. The framing might flatten performance. The performances themselves may not have all been equally dynamic. All of these variables come down to one problem: live movement does not simply transfer to the screen, it changes when it is filmed.